Pausing Missions
by sasuketheuchiha
Summary: "Pausing Missions" is a short one-shot involving how Itachi feels about *SPOILER ALERT* having to destroy the Uchiha clan. Kakashi doesn't know what he means but manages to make the younger Anbu feel slightly better or rather more prepared.


_I am back up.  
He is back up.  
We are back up. _

We don't hold the greatest job but we are the keystone in this mission. Out positions keep the others in peace and the leaders in place. We don't have to run or dodge jutsu, but we do have to watch. I am in unknown territory with a man I have never seen before. The way he holds himself proves that he is much more than meager paltry /back up/. I am not use to someone taller and stronger than me. Someone of such authority hasn't been around me in a long time. Everything I've done resided in my own clan and now that I am running along the branches of another ninja I felt rather uncomfortable. I have known him for quite some time, but I still refer to him as a stranger. In war you never know another's name yet alone their facial features.

"We should wait," I suggested. The older man, named Kakashi Hatake and known as The Copy Ninja, stopped and landed silently on a tree branch. The way in which he turned his head caused his hair to fall in his eyes for a split second only to reveal the shining red eye behind the Anbu mask.

"Now?" He questioned. I know what this ninja was doing. He's testing me not doubting me. As long as I stick with my answer he is always willing to listen.

"Yes, I feel as though now is the best time to stop." I responded confidently.

"Very well, Itachi. We can rest." He jumped down from the tree and I followed. This mission was very difficult for me. I live in an average size home. I have a little pond in my backyard and a little set of stairs that led to my little room. Every night I would pass that little quiet pond and enter the house to walk up those little stairs. I would then enter my little room and see my little brother on my big king sized bed. He curls up on what's now his side of the bed and leave my size exposed without blankets as if he knows it helps me get in bed easier. My little brother never goes to my parent's room when he has nightmares. Recently, I've been told that this will all have to go away. I will have to say goodbye to my pond and my house. I will bid farewell to my bed and even that tiny little boy curled up on it.

"Are you okay?" My attention was diverted when I realized that Kakashi was talking to me. He may have worn a mask, but the concern in his eyes was hard to miss. It took me by surprise. I still thought of him as a stranger yet he seemed to know a lot about me. Even more surprising, Kakashi then listen his hand and pulled the mask from his face. He watched in awe as he revealed his fine features. Kakashi's skin was pale and the only imperfection was the scar across his eye.

"I am fine. What makes you think anything other?" I try to play it safe. Revealing such a thing to another ninja was dangerous.

"Don't play dumb with me Itachi. I see that something is up." He clipped his mask to his waist and looked up at my and waited patiently for an honest answer.

"I am soiling my innocence and destroying the good in me by bringing out the evil. I have a mission to kill a number of people in order to save a lot more. It's a family." That's all I was willing to offer. What I said was true only Kakashi didn't know I meant a clan, a huge family. My family. "How am I supposed to do this?"

"I haven't seen this side of you Itachi. You're always perfect and quiet. Like a machine." Somehow he managed to make me chuckle.

"I was raised that way, besides you're not so friendly yourself."

"True, but about your problem. Focus on the good and imagine doing the bad to them. Anbu is a hard job Itachi and every time I slay someone I remind myself that without their bloodshed, they will shed ten times as more. It might even come back to haunt me." I let my gaze settle over his before looking away at anything but him. What he said was true, but at the same time what I am to do soon will also come back to haunt me.

"We will do what you say, but keep in mind of what I said Itachi. We don't know each other well but I know you're a good person. I have no worry at all that you can do this deed. My worry is not about being capable of evil, but letting it consume you and make you forget who you are."

I listened to him intently throughout the day. That was the only day he felt like a friend. We fought like kings and our teamwork was as strong as a twin. I never saw him again, not until thirteen years later, but even then it wasn't the same. I was fighting him in battle with the evil I promise would never consume me.


End file.
